Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, in addition to attacks in the Strait of Hormuz, have intensified their assaults on areas controlled by the government.
Golden Page News |August 17| 2026
Yemen-
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on Monday called on the warring parties in Yemen to “immediately cease” any offensive that could once again plunge the country into “full-scale conflict.”
“I urge all parties to immediately cease any action that risks plunging Yemen back into full-scale conflict,” Volker Türk said in a statement. His warning came as Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels, after years of relative calm, have intensified their attacks against areas controlled by the government, which is allied with Saudi Arabia.
Last week, the Houthis launched their deadliest offensives in years, killing 58 members of government forces, mainly in the oil-rich province of Marib. On the same day, two civilians were killed in a Houthi bombardment of residential areas and displacement camps in the city of Marib.
According to the UN human rights office, at least 17 civilians have been killed or injured in attacks targeting government-controlled regions since August 6. Three employees at the port of Mokha, a city on the Red Sea coast, were among those killed in a Houthi missile strike.
Hostilities between the Houthis and the Yemeni government resumed last month for the first time since a truce was negotiated in 2022, marking another escalation in the regional conflict following the war between the United States and Iran. In addition to the maritime blockade, the rebels have claimed responsibility for strikes on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia and, in Yemen, against government military bases as well as Saudi troops and equipment in Mokha.
The UN Human Rights Office said that civilian infrastructure damaged in the recent attacks included fuel storage facilities and a residential complex belonging to the Saudi field hospital in Mokha.
“Attacks on civilian infrastructure risk further worsening the suffering of the civilian population, at a time when at least 18 million Yemenis are already facing food insecurity,” Mr. Türk warned.
